Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Light and fluffy buttermilk Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are topped with Cheese Frosting – the ultimate fall breakfast! They can be made overnight so that you can wake up to fresh rolls!

Happy Friday!!! And welcome to the final day of PUMPKIN WEEK! I hope you enjoyed all the pumpkin goodness this week – I know that I sure enjoyed eating all of it! If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, there is a round-up of all the pumpkin recipes in case you missed any.

I saved the best for last…Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting!! Pumpkin adds so much flavor and a beautiful color to the light and fluffy buttermilk dough. Pumpkin pie spice mixed with cinnamon gives the filling a distinct pumpkin-y flavor. And cream cheese frosting tops it all off. These rolls are absolutely delicious and could not be prettier. This is what I call a showstopper of a fall breakfast!

I absolutely love cinnamon rolls, and I really think that they are one of the most impressive things to come out of my kitchen. I get SO excited when I have a giant tray of fresh cinnamon rolls to serve (slash eat). And I was extra excited about these pumpkin cinnamon rolls – the color is so pretty and they taste delicious. It is all the best flavors of fall rolled into one beautiful roll.

These pumpkin cinnamon rolls can be made overnight or all at once. I made them on a Friday night so that I could wake up on Saturday morning and have fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Here are the steps:

1) Make the dough.
2) Let it rise.
3) Roll out the dough, slather with cinnamon mixture, roll into a log, cut into rolls, place on a sheet pan.
Now is when you can either finish making the rolls, or save them for the next day. If you want to do the overnight route, tightly wrap the sheet pan with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until then next morning. Then move on to…
4) Let the rolls rise.
5) Bake.
6) Make frosting and slather on rolls.

There’s no getting around it – homemade cinnamon rolls are a lot of work. Which is part of the reason why I’m always so impressed when I successfully make a batch! But to me, it is worth all the hard work to have fresh, fluffy, flavorful, delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Particularly when they are pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

Although it will probably only happen once or twice a year. Baked donuts are so much easier 😉

I hope you liked all of my pumpkin recipes this week! It was such a fun way for me to celebrate my favorite season and one of my favorite flavors.

And now it is time to bake something with chocolate peanut butter to make TheBetterHalf happy…he is quite sick of pumpkin right now

Light and fluffy buttermilk Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are topped with Cheese Frosting - the ultimate fall breakfast! They can be made overnight so that you can wake up to fresh rolls!

Ingredients

2 cups bread flour

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

4 Tablespoons butter, soft

2 eggs, whisked

For the Filling

1/2 stick soft butter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

For the frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash salt

2 - 3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together flours, brown sugar, yeast, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.

In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin, and warm to temperature specified on your yeast packet (about 100 degrees F).

Add butter, eggs, and buttermilk-pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and knead on medium high speed for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Check the dough after 5 minutes - you want the dough to slightly stick to the bottom of the bowl but not to the sides. If the dough is too moist, add a bit more flour. Too dry, add a bit more buttermilk.

Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. Transfer the dough to the oiled bowl and roll the dough ball to cover with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Line an 11x17 inch sheet pan with raised edges with aluminum foil, and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Turn the risen dough out onto a very lightly floured Silpat or counter and knead it gently for 2 minutes. Stretch the dough into a rectangle shape. Using a rolling pin, roll it into a 16x12 inch rectangle. If you are having trouble rolling the dough, cover the dough and leave it for a few minutes and then come back and try again.

For the Filling

With a rubber spatula or your fingers, spread the soft butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the butter, then sprinkle the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice over the sugar.

Using your hands (and a bench scraper if the dough is sticking), start with the long edge and roll the dough into a tight log. Pinch the dough together at the end to close the seam, then place the dough log seam side down on the counter. Gently stretch the log until it is 18 inches in length.

Using a serrated knife, slice the log into 12 evenly sized rolls, about 1 1/2 inches each. Arrange rolls evenly on the pan. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray and place over rolls.

If making the Overnight version, wrap rolls again to make sure they are completely coverend and place in the refrigerator overnight (up to 16 hours). The next morning, let the rolls sit at warm room temperature until they have nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour.

If making right away, let covered rolls rise until doubled in size, about 1.5 hours.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until well combined. Add the vanilla, salt and 2 cups powdered sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy. Taste and add more sugar, if desired.

Spread or pipe cream cheese frosting on the warm rolls, and serve immediately.